Happy Birthday Nico!
by thwipster808
Summary: Nico thought it would be a typical day at camp. That changes with a simple, not-actually-a-haiku haiku from his best friend/crush Will Solace. Oh right, it's his birthday. Takes place after BOO but doesn't follow TOA canon because that would confuse me :)


**(A/N) This is my first PJO fanfic! It's Nico's birthday so I had to do something for him 3**

Nico blinked his eyes awake as light streamed in through the crack between his curtains. For once, he felt like he actually got some sleep, not remembering having any nightmares that night. But something was wrong.

 _What time is it?_

Normally, his annoying "doctor" Will Solace would wake him up for breakfast in order to ensure he was eating and taking care of himself. Nico scoffs at the thought of Solace nagging him, with his stupid "Doctor's Orders", his blinding smile, his wavy blond hair that glints in the sun, his sparkling blue eyes that seem to reflect the color of the sky most days, the sort of blue Nico has gotten lost in several times…

 _No,_ Nico thought, _I will not get lost in that. We're close friends. It's nice having a best friend and I will NOT be ruining this with a stupid crush._

Nico has learned over the past months how to act normal and friendly – well, Nico's version of friendly, which means being less distant and reserved than normal. It's a work in progress.

Nico refocuses back into reality, peeking out his curtains to see the sun decently high in the sky. Had Will forgotten about him? Nico hated how used to, even dependent on, the son of Apollo greeting him every morning he was. Was Will so integral to his life that he didn't even know how to start the day on his own now?

Nico pushed any negative thoughts to the back of his mind as he went and got ready. Will must've had an early shift at the infirmary or something. Or maybe he's giving Nico a day to sleep in for once, seeing as he complains about being up early every day. He hasn't slept in till 11 in quite some time. He decides to head to the pavilion and see if he can still get food, even if it's not lunch time yet. Maybe then he can skip actual lunch and train in the arena since no one will be there.

When he opens his door, there's a note on the ground with a giant sun on it.

 _Solace,_ he suppresses a smile and rolls his eyes at the crudely drawn sun with a smiley face in it.

 _Gooooood morning, Sunshine!_

 _I don't even know if it'll still be morning when you read this, but anyway, I let you sleep in today because I had to cover someone's shift at the infirmary along with my own all morning._

 _As an apology for not forcing you awake, I wrote a haiku :)_

 _Love, Will_

Nico gets caught on that last part. _He said love…_ Nico can only see those words, casually written by Will, who doesn't even see how it could mean so much to Nico. _It's just a typical sign-off, don't look into it._ Nico shakes his head to clear his thoughts and remembers the rest of the note. He flips it over to read the most likely terrible haiku:

 _Find the green-eyed boy_

 _Tell him "The sun will set soon"_

 _Do it for me please :)_

Nico doesn't even think he understands what haikus should be, or that it's more than a syllable pattern. Whatever, he reads it again anyways just to hear Will's voice saying it to him (he's got it so bad). On his third read through, he realizes that it's actually telling him to do something. _Green-eyed boy?_ He wonders. ' _Do it for me please' Ugh,_ he thinks to himself. Will Solace can get away with nearly anything with Nico, all he has to do is ask and Nico will eventually give in. With an eye roll, Nico leaves his cabin to find Percy. _If this is some big joke and I end up wet, Solace is gonna get it._

After stopping at the pavilion for an apple, Nico heads to the Poseidon cabin. He had considered shadow travelling there, if not just because he knows Solace would hate it, but decided against it. He doesn't want to accidentally stumble upon Percy and Annabeth ever again. Ever. When he knocks, Percy cracks open the door and peeks out through the crack.

"What's the password?" Percy says in an unnecessary whisper. He's one of those people who don't even know how to whisper, so Nico doesn't know why he bothers trying.

"Percy, what's going on," Nico deadpans.

"Passsswoooord." _He's as stubborn and stupid as ever_ , Nico thinks.

"Ugh," he pulls out the paper, "'The sun will set soon.' It's like midday, who came up with this—" Nico is cut off as Percy yanks him through the door and shuts it quickly. The cabin is pitch black and Nico starts feeling anxious. He didn't think anything was going to happen, so he didn't exactly mentally prepare for an attack.

"Percy, what the—"

"SURPRISE!" The lights suddenly come on and Nico is momentarily blinded and deafened by the shouting. Instinctively, he grabs his sword and swings out, ready to fight off whatever has caught him off guard. When his senses catch up to him, he registers a certain son of Apollo standing in front of him looking shocked and holding a sign that has now been sliced in half.

"Uhhh Death Boy? Mind putting that away? I spent a long time on this birthday sign and I don't want anything else to be cut in half, namely me." Will blushed slightly, giving Nico a shy smile and that look that always gets Nico to do what he says.

"What in the Hades is going on, Solace?" Nico sheaths his sword and looks around, taking in the balloons, banners with his name on it, and all his friends, who look both alarmed and amused at the same time.

"Um, hello? It's your birthday! Happy Birthday, Nico!" Will drops the two halves of the sign to the ground in favor of throwing his arms up and grinning like he won the lottery.

As Nico tries to process this information, Percy comes up from behind and throws his arm across Nico's shoulders.

"Bro, it's a celebration of the day you were born! You know, your _birthday_. Come on, lighten up! Solace here put it all together and somehow kept from telling you," Percy snickered at the last part.

Will's face turned red with both frustration and embarrassment as he said, "I can keep a secret! Besides, we all worked to make this happen. So, let's have fun!" With that, everyone cheered and started milling about, music playing in the background of happy conversations. Will grabbed Nico's hand, much to Nico's embarrassment, and pulled him along to show him around the party. As Will excitedly chatted about all the planning they had done (it really is amazing that Nico had no idea, Will is such a blabbermouth), Nico marveled at the fact that it was his birthday. He didn't even remember it himself, and yet here was Will and his friends, hoping to make Nico's day special. He looked around at all the decorations and all his friends, who looked genuinely happy to be there. Nico may have moved on from believing that he had no friends, but sometimes he couldn't even fathom what great friends he had.

His birthdays in the past had been filled with self-hate and regret – hating that he was born, regretting his actions that caused others pain, things of that sort. Even today, he felt that somewhere in his mind, he knew it was his birthday, but he didn't want to think about it because he knew that he'd just have those negative thoughts, as always.

"Hey," Will pulled Nico from his thoughts, a look of concern under his gentle smile, "You okay? You haven't said anything yet. Is the party okay? Is it too much? It's too much, isn't it. I knew I should've put up less decorations. I was too excited. Ugh and you probably don't appreciate the little suns everywhere, but it's all the Apollo cabin had—"

"Will," Nico cut him off, "It's incredible. Sorry, I was just thinking… I really appreciate you and everyone else, you know, going through all this trouble for me. I didn't even realize today… I mean normally… how did you even know?" Nico couldn't get out words properly, he didn't know how to express the extreme gratitude he felt.

Will only grinned, "I'm your doctor – of course I know when your birthday is, Death Boy. And I wasn't about to let your special day go uncelebrated."

Nico scoffed, "Special day… my whole life has been a mess. I don't know if the day of my birth should be celebrated all that much."

"No, you don't get to say that." Will stopped Nico and stood in front of him, a frown on his lips. "You are a hero and a fantastic friend to everyone here. Without you, many of us, probably even the whole camp, wouldn't be here. _I_ am extremely grateful that you were born today, however many years ago, because I—" Will seemed to choke on his words, turning red in the process.

"Because you…? Are you okay?" Nico was just confused now, having no idea why Will cut himself off.

"Because I… get to do this!" With that, Will lunged forward and swiped frosting across Nico's cheek. Nico was so caught off guard, he stood there for a good 3 seconds as Will laughed, gaining the attention of those around him. Then Nico narrowed his eyes, found the cake, grabbed a handful, and flung it right at Will's face so that frosting and a chunk of cake slid down his cheek.

"FROSTING FIGHT!" Percy was the first to jump at the cake, resulting in an all-out frosting war.

By the end, everyone was covered in frosting and chocolate cake and giggling like maniacs. Even Nico had jumped in, shadow traveling a few times to get the jump on people.

Once everyone calmed down a bit, Will came up to Nico with a clump of cake and frosting on a plate and a single candle shoved in it.

"We still have to sing to the birthday boy," Will said with a shy smile. Nico offered his own small smile as everyone gathered around and sang "Happy Birthday" to Nico. Nico thought about each face that was smiling at him, ending on the face of Will Solace, who beamed the brightest out of them all.

"Make a wish, Nico," Will said gently, once the song had finished.

Looking up at that face, Nico knew what to wish for. He had a great life – far from perfect, but pretty great. He had almost everything he wanted, just one thing was missing.

He closed his eyes, and he blew out the candle.

 **(A/N) Thanks for reading! If you liked it, review! Even if ya didn't, I still love you :)**


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